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Creole Discourse and Social Development

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Creole Discourse and Social Development IDRC-M R212e CREOLE DISCOURSE AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT LaW"ence D. tarrington Material contained in this report is produced as submitted and has not been subjected to peer review or editing by IDRC Communications Division staff. Mention of proprietary ncJlles does not constitute endorsenent of the product and is given only for infonnation. ©1988 Lawrence D. Carrington CONTENTS Pref ace 1 Creoles in the societies under study 6 St. Lucia: Creole within public life 13 Dominica: Creole within public life 22 The French Departments 26 Haiti and Haitian 32 The question of instrumentalization 37 Considerations in the formal use of the vernaculars 44 The areas of action 49 The available scholarship and technical resources 54 Bibliography 60 Conclusion 81 Notes and references 82 Appendix 1 News and information 85 Appendix 2 Agricultural information 87 Appendix 3 Health education 91 Appendix 4 Adult literacy 94 Appendix 5 Original project document 96 Appendix 6 Institutions at which studies on Antillean are in progress 102 1 I PREFACE The history of the project The project which has come to be known as Creole Discourse and Social Development had its beginnings in a series of conversa­ tions between Jean Casimir, Social Affairs Officer, Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and Lawrence Carrington, Senior Research Fellow, Faculty of Educa­ tion, University of the West Indies (UWI). The pair attended together the 3eme Colloque International des Etudes Creoles held in St. Lucia in May of 1981. Exchanges related to the instru­ mental ization of vernacular languages led Casimir and Carrington to elaborate their ideas on the mobilization of vernacular languages in the development of Caribbean states. The major part of the published and continuinq debate on the place of vernacular languages in Caribbean society has centred on their treatment within the education sector. Should they be proscribed, ignored, tolerated or used? If they are to be used should they be tools of transition, partial instruments of instruction, sole instruments of instruction? This project does not derive from that argument even though it is informed by it. Instead, we start from the recognition that the productive sector of Caribbean societies lies beyond the reach of the existing educational systems and consequently cannot be readily and materially affected by decisions restricted to the education systems. The instrumental i zation of the Creole vernaculars in the Caribbean needs to be founded on the transformation of formal dialogue between the citizen and the agencies of the state. The state must be able to perform its developmental activity through the medium of these languages. Our position does not deny the importance of decisions within the education sector, but it is founded on a different order of priority which we see as responsive to realities ignored by the arguments on education. The first attempt to seek funding for an appropriate project was made in 1982. In 1983, the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Ottawa, Canada expressed interest in the draft proposal submitted to it by ECLAC. The resultant negotiations culminated in 1985 when an agreement was signed between the two parties. This agreement made available funds to support a preparatory study with the goals stated at section 6 of the synopsis of the project. (See Appendix 5.) Dr. Lawrence Carrington, was contracted by ECLAC to undertake the preparatory study and work was begun in August 1985. 2 The conduct of the study The data for this report were collected mainly from documentary sources and from interviews. The consultant was able to visit several of the centres of study and initiative in the develop­ ment of Creole languages and to discuss the ideas that have resulted in this report with colleagues in universities other than his own. He was also able to visit four of the Creole­ speaking countries of the Eastern Caribbean (Martinique, Guadeloupe, St. Lucia and Dominica) to gather information and opinions. A visit to French Guiana was not possible and this country is not discussed. In the case of Haiti, the political unrest associated with the change of leadership in 1986 pre­ vented a visit until just before the writing of this report. Consequently, Haiti is not discussed in the same manner as the other countries visited. Certain limitations on the fullness of the report must be drawn to the attention of the reader. Firstly, there was very poor response to letters on the part of many public officials with whom the consultant entered into correspondence. Subsequent visits to some of the officials confirmed all of the plausible guesses that might have accounted for their non-response. The first explanation is the slow processes of the bureaucracies in which many of these persons work. Secondly, to many persons, the ideas suggested in the project were totally novel and even revolutionary. In the case of others, while the ideas were neither novel nor revolutionary, they called for difficult mental adjustments because they were requiring official action by the state in a previously neglected area. In either of the latter two cases, there was uncertainty on how to reply to some of the questions raised. The third case was rejection by the receiving officer of the ideas suggested and a consequent assignment of low priority for reply. Finally, loss of the related correspondence after receipt was also a factor. A second important limitation on the study is that the consul­ tant could not tap the opinions of the persons most likely to benefit from any success that might be achieved by the proposed sub-projects. To put it bluntly, the respondents to enquiries by the investigator were not those persons who, in there personal capacities, stood to benefit most from the implemen­ tation of any of the proposals. Indeed, there are senses in which respondents could consider their institutional interests to be directly threatened by the shifts in access to information that could result from the implementation of sub-projects described in Appendices 1 to 4. 3 The organisation of the study Whilst it would have been useful to have this document organised in a similar order to the listing on the final pages of the proposal for the preparatory study, such a pattern would have resulted in a considerable amount of repetition. In order to avoid this and to make the document more readable, I have opted for a more open format. All aspects of the intended study are however included. The acknowledgements list the names of the persons in each country with whom the investigator had contact for the purpose of the study. Their contributions of knowledge, information, moral support and administrative assistance is gratefully acknowledged. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Bloomington, Indiana Valdman, Albert Indiana University, Creole In­ stitute Dominica Bully, Aldwin Cultural Division Dalrymple, Ezra Community Development Henderson, Felix Dominica Broadcasting Services Fontaine, Marcel Grand Bay James, Dorothy Health Education Unit James, Arlington Forestry and Wildlife Division James, Charles Agricultural Information Unit Joseph, Dora Adult Education Paul, Velma Dominica Broadcasting Services Richards, Ken Government Information Services Stuart, Stephanie Cultural Division Thomas, Auqustine Health Education Unit Guadeloupe Bebel-Gisler, Dany Chartreux, Lamentin Colat-Joliviere, Donald Abymes, Raizet Cornely, Guy Abymes, Raizet Darville, Alain Baie-Mahault Fontes, Robert Baie-Mahault Lolo, Jacques RFO, Guadeloupe Marshall, Freddy Radio Caraibe, Guadeloupe Pedurand, Herve Radio Caralbe, Guadeloupe Pepin, Ernest Conseil Regional Poullet, Hector Capesterre Belle-Eau 4 Haiti Alexandre, Guy Ecole Kay a Nou Celestain, Myrto Maison Alfa Fattier, Dominique Centre de Linguistique Appliquee Fouchard, Denise on Pep Jean-Baptiste, Pauris Boukan Joseph, Yves Ministere de !'Education nationale Paultre, Carrie Boukan Vernet, Pierre Centre de Linguistique Appliquee Martinique Ayrault, Jacqueline Bibliotheque, UAG, Schoelcher Bernabe, Jean GE REC Celma, Cecile Bibliotheque Schoelcher Confiant, Raphael Vauclin Gotin, Marius Radio Balisier Lawrencine, Ronald Antilla Petitjean-Roget, Vivienne DD ASS Prudent, Lambert-Felix UAG, Schoelcher Rosaz, Francois Service Agricole Simoneau-Gratiant, Odile Ecole Normale Montreal Chancy, Adeline Commission des Droits de la Personne du Quebec Brochu, Ginette Centre de Recherches Caraibes Desvieux, Lilianne Centre de Recherches Caraibes Laroche, Maximilien Universite Laval Larose, Serge Centre de Recherches Caraibes Lefebvre, Claire Universite du Quebec a Montreal Lefebvre, Gilles Universite de Montreal Mc Connell, Grant Universite Laval Menard, Nathan Universite de Montreal Morin, Claude Centre de Recherches Caraibes Romulus, Mark Quebec Voltaire, Frantz Centre International de Docu­ mentation et d'Information Haltienne Caraibeene, Montreal New York Bayardelle, Eddy Bank Street College Casar, Gloria New York State, Bureau of Bilingual Education Casimir, Marie-Claire District 17, Board of Education Dejean, Yves Bank Street College 5 Joseph, Carole City College of New York Legros, Lionel Brooklyn Manigat, Max City College of New York Previllon, Jean New York City, Office of Bilingual Education Smarth, William Haitian Fathers Ziegler, Phyllis New York City, Office of Bilingual Education St. Lucia Alexis, Jude-Marie Primary Health Care Project Charles, Embert FRC Charles, Pat NRDF Demacque, David Ministry of Agriculture Francis, Claudia Ministry of Education Hammerton, John CARDI Jean-Baptiste,
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